This section is to help guide you through the basics of dog training. We highly recommend you seek professional training help in your area if you have a problem dog or are simply not getting the results you feel you should be getting following our guides.
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- Collars
- NO!
- Housebreaking
- Off
- Release Tactics
- Dominance over the difficult dog
- Sit
- Stay
- Down
- Come
- Heel
And more articles to come!
Proper selection of a collar is your very first task when training any dog. It does not matter if you have a toy breed or giant breed, the right collar makes all the difference. We will talk a bit about collars and how to place them on the dog’s neck today.
I want to start out saying that I do not discuss any of the ‘Halti’ or ‘Gentle Leader’ type of head/face collars that have become popular over recent years. These devices, in my opinion, are useless, do not apply the aids properly and do nothing to actually teach the dogs the proper commands he will need to become a well behaved pet.
So, with that said, let’s discuss collars for training purposes.
There are two types of training collars one can use to aid you in conveying the proper commands to your dog during the basic and continuing training sessions throughout his life.
A) The ‘choke’ collar.
B) The ‘prong’ collar
The collar should be of a size that is easily slipped over the dog's head with about 2 inches of slack. It should be loose when not being tugged on.
To properly measure for the chain collar simply measure your dog’s neck and add 3 inches to the measurement. Select the size closest to your calculations. If you cannot find the exact size, get the one the next size UP. A tiny bit bigger is better than smaller.
There is a proper way and improper way to have the collar on as well. We'll call it right side up or upside down
Take note of the rings attached to the chain ends. The stationary ring (the ring without the leash clip) should be on the bottom like you see in image 1. This is right side up.
When the ring is in this position, the collar will release the moment the leash is relaxed and the 'choke' part is stopped immediately.
When the collar is on upside down, the bottom ring will be on top, and the collar will NOT release when the leash is relaxed like you see in image 2.
Housebreak Your Dog Using Bells
~ by Joan A Walker ©
Ring the bells to go out!
Teaching your puppy not to soil in your house is not an easy task, but you can make it easier by teaching him or her to ring bells.
Dogs find this fun and it gives you a clear indication what the dog is asking for.
Housebreaking is simple using this method. The one thing to remember is you won't get overnight results and it takes many months and sometimes up to a year to fully teach your dog to 'hold it' until you are around. After all, puppies are babies and just like human babies, they take time to learn things and their bodies are growing and changing all the while as well.
Consistency & patience on your part is a must as well.
The first rule of housebreaking is not to use paper on the floor. You only teach the dog to pee in the house this way. Also you confuse the dog because one minute he's getting praise for peeing on the paper, the next outside. Then he gets scolded for messing off the paper but you just taught him inside is OK by giving him paper. Only he can't differentiate between which place inside you allow him to mess.
Confused reading that? Well, so is the dog trying to learn by that method!.
Now, you must confine your dog when you cannot supervise his actions all the time. Crate training is best, but if you absolutely refuse crate training, then a baby gate across a room that an occasional accident can be allowed to occur is best. We confine our dogs to the kitchen, which by the way has the door to outside with the bells.
Any inside messes whether it be pee or poop gets picked up with paper towels (sanitized and cleaned with an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle) and the dirty towels placed in a specific spot outside and left there. This is going to be your designated toilet area for a while until the dog gets the hang of this ‘outside business’. Doing this leaves the dog's scent there indicating in 'doggie lingo' that this is the spot to toilet at. Leave any poop there for a few days longer than you normally would as well. This helps to teach the dog. Only pick up the poop if you walk the dog where the law says you must pick it up or it's in a public area where it SHOULD be picked up.
Always walk the dog on a leash to teach them to housebreak. This is done even when using your own back yard. Why? Because this means business, not play. It keeps the dogs mind on the task at hand. Playtime is only for when the dog has done what you brought him out there to do. Never mix the two until your pup is fully housebroken.
Use lots and lots of praise when your dog does toilet outside. Make a big deal out of it. Don't use food treats as the dog will only become accustomed to receiving food for doing what he needs to learn. Praise works best. This goes for any training, whether it be obedience, or tricks or housebreaking.
Now you need to get a regular schedule installed for ‘potty time’ and food. Young dogs eat 4 times a day. This makes for allot of poop and pee! Water needs to be left out at all times but now until your dog is trained or it is unbearably hot and you've no air conditioning, you need to start taking the water away in the overnight hours. Taking the water away gives you a fighting chance.
So now you feed the dog at the same time for each meal (as the dog gets older and you reduce the meals, you still keep your schedule). When the dog is finished eating, IMMEDIATELY put his leash on and take the dog outside. Use the SAME WORDS to indicate the dog is going outside to toilet. We use, "Want to go out?". This is another tool that shows the dog what is going to happen next.
So, as you're putting the leash on, say "want to go out?" and take the dog to the designated toilet area. You must stay there until the dog does his 'business'. We used to say 'go piddle' or 'go potty' and all the other words we want the dog to associate with going out to toilet. Once the dog actually does his 'business' you give lots and lots of animated and happy praise.
Keep in mind you could be outside for quite a while before the dog learns what you're there for. Patience, patience, patience! Also, once the dog goes in the spot you designate more and more, the time you wait for the dog to 'go' will be shorter. A new spot is always the longest wait.
Now take the dog inside. Lesson done.
If you planned on a combined pleasure and toilet walk, put the leash back on the dog and go outside now to 'play'. Keep the two separate until your dog is totally housebroke or has learned to use the bells consistently.
Your dog should understand the words and the routine for this after a day or two, but not necessarily be good enough to start asking to go out yet. But the words you use now are going to be recognizable to him. You should use the same door to teach the dog to toilet outside every time. This is another indicator to the dog what is expected of him.
So now the basics are done. You are going to get a pair of sleigh bells. I used a pair I had from an old Christmas decoration I tore apart for this lesson. If you don't have any lying around, you can find sleigh bells in any equine supply shop or Christmas shop. Search on line if you need to. Craft stores will have bells too. The bigger the bell, the louder it is, so get big bells. We have a pair bells around 2 inches across.
Loud bells are very nice when you are sleeping and the dog needs to go. We are pulled from a dead sleep every night at the exact same time by our dog because she always has to go and using the bells allows us to hear her signal. Even if you have your bedrooms upstairs those bells are easily heard!
OK, attach the bells to a string or ribbon, and tie that to the door and make the length low enough for your dog to reach them without having to jump up at them. You will be adjusting the height of the bells as the dog grows.
Next time you need to take the dog out, like after the next meal, you are going to shove its nose into the bells (gently!) and AT THE SAME TIME you will be saying, "want to go out?" (or whatever your tag line is). Repeat this a couple times giving the dog a second to try it on his own. When the dog does this on his own, repeat 'Want to go out?' and praise and GO OUT to the designated toilet area.
Keep in mind that the dog may not mimic your bell ringing the first few times you start teaching this, but usually dogs pick this up fast. Why? Because making noise is fun for dogs! It's also probably one of the few noisy things inside you're going to allow the dog to do.
Do this until you finally hear the dog do it on his own. Make sure you ALWAYS ask, ''Do you want to go out?'' every time the dog rings the bells.
Now you are going to have accidents on occasion. You may slack off in your 'baby sitting' or may not make it home from work on time etc, and you'll see the dog's mess by the door you take him out from. This is GOOD! Soiling BY the door is a good sign that the dog knows this is the door he goes out to toilet from and although he messed up there, it shows there was an effort made only you weren't there to prevent it.
Never scold your dog for having an accident while you are not home especially if Rex has had his accident by the door. Simply greet your dog, clean the mess and ask if he wants to go outside and TAKE Rex outside and praise him for his effort when he piddles for you.
Another thing you must remember is to NEVER scold the dog for messing in the house. Most times you will never catch the dog making a mistake with your own eyes. You will most likely only find it long after the accident has been done. So you simply clean it up, put the paper outside as instructed and take the dog out to toilet.
Never rub your dogs face in the mess either.
Both these methods only teach your dog that 'doing his business' is bad, not the act of going in the house. He's a dog. He doesn't have the ability to reason and sort those kinds of thoughts out.
If you do catch the dog in the act, simply pick the dog up (sometimes this can be messy so be prepared!) and take the dog outside all the while saying, “Do you want to go out?” When the dog
is finished, praise and bring him inside.
So remember, patience, diligence and the proper sequence of commands will get results. Hollering and beatings only frighten and prolong your progress and frankly are just cruel.
Good luck and happy housebreaking.
You cannot get anywhere with your dog unless it understands what NO means. No is your single-most important word in teaching your dog anything.
Many people have implemented a different word than NO and frankly this is both good and bad. Why? Well lets' think of it this way:
Most people have dogs as their pets. Your pet should be well behaved when anyone comes near it, to your house, in your yard, sitting on a chair - ANYPLACE people and your dog are your dog should be well mannered.
There are times when your dog cannot control his or her emotions and using a universal command word for all your training needs will be beneficial to all.
Say your guest is in a chair and your dog keeps bringing his toy to play. Your guest does not want to play. Your guest should be able to say NO and get a response from Rex.
Non-universal words are used for specialty training. They are not wrong perse but they will not be very helpful in a normal day to day pet / people relationship. How inconvenient will it be for anyone and everyone if only your special word will get your dog to stop pestering your guests?
So we will save the special command words for guard and Schutzhund training.
As you already have read in the article on housebreaking, NO is used to get your point across. It is effective and it catches the dog’s attention immediately. Well, not always immediately and if that is the case, I guarantee it is you and your delivery of the command NO.
NO should always be said in a way as if you MEAN it. Not a holler, not mean and not long and drawn out with a soft tone of voice, but with a firm NO!
You can probably relate this to how a pack leader of a large dog pack would enforce his wishes on the others. A short sharp bark with sometimes a snapping motion toward the offending member is all it takes to get his point across.
This is their version of our NO!
So now let’s take our NO to some practice. Next time you see your dog doing something you want it to stop doing, practice NO!
If Rex is chewing something that does not belong to him, go to him, take the item away and firmly and with a clear audible voice say, "Rex, NO!"
Take the item away and replace it with something that is his.
How about if Rex is annoying someone? Say, "Rex, NO!" and then give Rex a command like sit, down, or on your bed (providing he is trained for such stuff already). If Rex won't listen, repeat "Rex, NO!" and the command and then give the physical prodding (this will be covered in our Sit lesson), or take Rex by the collar and put him in his own bed to stay.
You now have the basics of NO! You will need to be very consistent in your command. You cannot say nooooooooo and you cannot say "I told you NO" or ANY other variation of NO.
Dogs need to learn by repetition and you need to teach by repetition and patience. After a few tries on NO you will start to see results and as time goes on and Rex's attention span increases, you will see your hard work and patience pay off.
Also, as Rex gets the hint of your demand, using his name before the command NO will be needed less and less and a simple NO! will suffice.
This will work for ANY reason you need to tell your dog NO for. If they are begging at the table or simply whining for no apparent reason, NO is your magic word.
Now that you have your dog understanding the word NO! and you now know a bit about collars and you somewhat have housebreaking down to a science why don’t we start teaching Rex how to sit and stay sitting?
The sit command is the first command you should teach. This is the foundation of all your other commands in basic obedience for your dog. Teaching your dog some basic obedience is essential to a well adjusted dog that has respect for you, the attention span needed to be a well behaved dog, and most of all, a well behaved dog knows his place in the pack and is a pleasure to be around. Obedience is part of pack leader establishment. YOU are the trainer and this makes you the leader. How, you ask? By being the one teaching the dog you automatically are taking on the role of leader. Like in the NO! lesson, you are leader because you are establishing the role the dog plays under your commands. You are teaching Rex what is expected of him.
OK for our lesson you are going to need a training collar. * See the collars section and pick a collar that you will be using for all your lessons. You will also need one 6 foot long leather leash that is 1/2 inch wide. Anything wider is uncomfortable to work with.
With your dog ready with collar and leash I want you to find a suitable area to work in where there are few distractions and no interruptions.
Your dog will always be working off your left side. This NEVER varies. All commands are off the left. You will learn a couple things before we start. One is that timing is everything. You must learn that when you have to correct a command that isn't executed properly, the correction must be exactly when he does not listen or the correction will be useless. This is also called a 'check'. You are going to learn how to hold the leash. This is very important as proper application of the aids will depend on how you hold your leash. Position of your hands is also important. Pay attention to the photos for correct position of the aids.
I want you to put Rex on your left side and have him standing.
Take the leash in your right hand and place the leash across your palm and hook the loop over your thumb.
Keeping the loop over your thumb I want you to take the left hand and grab the leash halfway down and bring this up toward your right hand and let it form a loop. Kind of like folding the leash in half. Don't hook this new loop over your thumb, but simply grasp this with your right hand and hold it firmly. You will have a small bit of looped leash hanging now out of the bottom of your right hand.
Keeping your left hand on the leash this is the proper set up to give the commands with as little room for Rex to misbehave as possible. You don't want excess leash because this is only an invitation for Rex to get out of your control. You want to keep him close to your side.
Now, I want you to raise your right hand with the leash in position until it is without any slack and take you left hand at the dog's left side, thumb across his back, and fingers by his groin.
Say, SIT! and at the same time give a 'check' up and back with the leash in your right hand while you left hand guides the dog into the SIT close by your left leg and his front feet aligned with yours.
Let the collar loose but be ready to give a 'check' again if necessary.
Say 'good boy'.
Don't be in a hurry to take your left hand away once Rex sits for you. Often the dog will get up as soon as he thinks he can get away with something. Simply give praise while he remains sitting still and then release or move him back to standing position.
Always be ready to help Rex keep the correct position until you clearly let him know the he may indeed move. He should stay at the sit until YOU are ready to let him up and not a moment before.
Now I know the above is not going to happen that easily so here is what you need to do if Rex does not want to sit right away.
You are going to give the leash with your right hand a bit of a sharp tug and at the SAME TIME push a bit harder on the dogs rear/back and say Rex, SIT!
Sometimes the dog will wander away from your left side and wind up in front of you or he'll even try to wrap himself around your legs. For this very reason is why the proper holding of the leash is so important. With the way I show you how to hold the leash, the dog can only go so far and thus making the correction to go back to your left side so much easier to administer.
If the dog winds up 'out of place', simply walk in a clockwise circle (toward your right hand) and the dog will naturally follow and when you halt, he should be on your left side.
This also makes applying SIT easy too because when you come around full circle and the dog is in the left hand position by your leg simply tug the leash with your right hand, and say SIT!
Hopefully Rex will have grasped this by now.
We are going to repeat this lesson every day twice a day for 20 minutes at a time. I want you to end the lesson even if it's a bit early if Rex has 'gotten it'. If he does really good, give lots of praise and stop your lesson until the next lesson rolls around. The worst thing to do is to stop your lesson on a bad note, so if he is giving you a bit of a hard time, the minute he 'gets it' even if it's not perfect, you end the lesson.
If you can do more than two lessons per day, that's all the better! The trick is to never get frustrated and keep your cool with the dog. Don't get upset if he doesn't get it on the first two or three lessons, he will get it! The key is patience and a calm steady voice. If the dog senses your frustration, this will only prolong his disobedience and resistance to learn. It gives a signal of no confidence to him of you and that defeats the whole point of the lessons.
So, if you feel yourself getting upset, stop the lesson! There's always the next one to work on.
Now practice sitting and our next lesson will be to sit and STAY.
Don't get ahead of the lessons and try making him sit everywhere and for every little thing just yet. This will all fall into place once a couple more lessons are given.
Many people don’t like either collar citing they are cruel and painful. I disagree and frankly, the most humane looking device can cause harm in the wrong hands and vice versa. As your dog gains knowledge in his training, the collar becomes more of an ‘insurance’ piece of equipment and not used as much but merely sits there just in case.
We are going to talk a bit on the proper use of these collars and how they are to sit on the dogs neck for the most humane and effective use.
The prong collar.
This collar believe it or not is more humane when properly used than the choke or even the regular leather or nylon collar.
This type of collar is designed to mimic another dog giving Rex a small ‘teaching’ bite on the neck, much like he would get while another member of a dog pack would do.
Some prong collars come with a quick release clip where others do not. I have had nothing but bad experiences with the quick release coming apart for no apparent reason and I wouldn’t suggest buying this kind. Please buy the kind that is more difficult to take on and off that uses the method of unlinking one link from another. It is 100% safer.
As your dog grows, you can purchase extra links to add to this type collar to give Rex more room. You can also purchase rubber tips that slip onto the prongs to cushion the ‘pinch’ some if your dog is extra responsive or extremely sensitive.
Below you can see in the images provided how the links open and close and how to do this easily:
{insert images of how to open and close links here}
This collar should fit around the neck snugly without any slack but does not pinch simply from sitting comfortably on the neck. You should be able to turn the collar around the dogs’ neck without resistance or the collar ‘grabbing’ skin. It should not be so loose as to ‘droop’. The collar should be high on the neck just below the ears. Any lower will be ineffective.
To properly measure for the prong collar simply measure your dog’s neck and add 3 inches to the measurement. Select the size closest to your calculations. If you cannot find the exact size, get the one the next size UP. A tiny bit bigger is better than smaller. We can always take out a link or add one as needed.
{insert pictures of properly placed collar here}
The dogs normal ‘every day’ collar can stay on the dog as you can see, but below the training collar.
{insert picture of collar with daily collar here}
I cannot stress enough that you need to learn how to use this type of collar before going out to buy one and simply expect results. This and ANY type collar are not to be used to simplify your training methods but they are only a tool with which you incorporate into your training program. You can learn the proper use of this collar from a qualified trainer. Please don’t try to figure this out by yourself. You can actually do more harm than good on your own. There is a proper way to give the commands and we will be talking about this in our next training installment.
I also cannot stress enough that this collar should NEVER be left on the dog or used for his daily ‘every day’ collar. Doing so is extremely dangerous and can even cause severe damage or death.
This collar has been banned in some countries due to the improper use of it and people using them in the wrong manner and the wrong purpose. Please check your local laws and regulations to see if this has been banned where you live.
I also need to mention while researching the internet for images that are good enough to use to display these collars for you that I ran into some new kind of ‘cheat’ in regard to prong collars. They are leather collars with pointed spikes built into the inside pointing into the dogs neck (If you notice the proper prong collar’s ‘prongs’ are bent at an angle and do NOT constantly jab at the dog’s neck. When this is in the relaxed state, there is NO discomfort to your dog.).
I found these to be just awful and just looking at them I can tell this is cruel beyond all imagination. There is no release for these things and the dog is constantly having these spikes against his neck!
I am sure these were developed because some countries do indeed ban the proper prong collar and using this kind of device hides the fact one is using spikes / prongs to control the dog without fear of fines.
You can train a dog properly without any kind of prong collar if it is illegal where you live. Please don’t use these ‘secret prong’ collars!
I wound up taking photos of my own dog’s collars for this article anyway!
The chain choke collar.
Here is a short discussion how to correctly place the chain collar on your dog. Correct placement is extremely important because if you do not put this collar on correctly you can cause a dog to feel allot of pain, and the collar will have little effect as well.
I cannot stress enough that this is NOT a collar to be left on any animal without constant supervision especially if you don’t have it on correctly. I have seen many animals with severely damaged necks because of these collars. Your animal can also choke to death if this collar is on and the animal gets hung up on something and cannot release itself.
Again, like the prong collar, this collar should be a training tool and NOT a quick fix for making an obedient dog. Proper training is a must.
The dog's regular should not be removed and the choke collar will be placed above that. You want the choke collar as high up on the neck as possible, close to the ears.
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